Childhood George Washington Carver read prompts poet

Neosho Daily News: Childhood George Washington Carver read prompts poet
Diamond, Mo. — When she was a young child, Marilyn Nelson, poet and author, read a biography about George Washington Carver.

On Saturday during the 68th annual Carver Day at the George Washington Carver National Monument, she was one of the guest speakers.

“In about second or third grade, I read a biography of Carver in the school library,” Nelson said. “And I decided at that point that I wanted to be a scientist, like Carver. I wanted to be a doctor or scientist for several years after that. Then I forgot about it. When I was a middle-aged woman, a poet with some reputation, I decided that I wanted to write a saint’s life and I decided to write about the 12th century German saint Hildegard Bingen.”

Nelson went to Germany and did a lot of research on Bingen. Later, she came home and was preparing to start the writing project.

“I was sitting at my desk, organizing my material, when I got a phone call from someone who had been a friend of my parents years earlier when I was a child,” Nelson said. “He stopped by and as he was leaving, he pulled out a brochure from this place (Carver National Monument) and said, ‘Marilyn, I think that you ought to write a book about George Washington Carver.’”

She stopped Bingen’s writing project and instead wrote “My saint’s life about George Washington Carver instead.”

Nelson read some poems from her book, “Carver: A Life in Poems.” One of the poems in the book is, “Watkin’s Laundry and Apothecary.”

“This is about his time in school in Neosho, when he lived with Mariah Watkins,” she said. “She is the speaker of this poem and she is just talking about how this child came to live with her for a certain amount of time and what kind of child he was.”

Two other poems were “Chemistry 101” and “God’s Little Workshop.”

“‘Chemistry 101’ is about his first year of teaching at Tuskegee (Institute), when there was no laboratory equipment and he took the students out into the dump to find things that they could use,” Nelson said. “‘God's Little Workshop’ is about the inventions that he came up with in his laboratory at Tuskegee.”

When Nelson wrote her book, she did research at both the local monument and also at Tuskegee.

Asked to name something unique about Carver she enjoys, Nelson said, “He was a very forward-thinking in his science, I think. What he tried to do was to take materials that are not much valued and find out what they could be used for. I really liked the fact that he, for example, taught that we need to make a spot for weeds in our garden. I think that we tend to, especially Americans, be sort of big crop people, like corn. We wipe out everything else and we are only going to grow corn. And what Carver, I think, was showing is that diversity is important. And that is true not only culturally, but also in the natural world that we need to recognize and respect the diversity the Creator has given us. And to learn how to find the gifts within the gift.”

Other activities during the day included music, hands-on events, guided tours, Carver films, exhibits inside the visitor’s center and speakers. Musical performers included Rev. John Wilkins, gospel blues singer and guitarist; Joe Becton, musician and living history performer; Sensational Wonders; the Joyful Noise Community Choir; and area church choirs. Storyteller Carole Shelton shared African-American stories.

One of the children’s activities was playing with 1800s toys and painting.

Ashton Cook, 3 and Kaden Cook, 9, Stark City, were painting during the event.

Ashton was asked what she was going to do with the picture after she got done with it.

“Put it on the clothesline to dry,” she said. “Then I will hang it on the refrigerator.”

For more information, call GWC National Monument at 325-4151 between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Administered by the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior, George Washington Carver National Monument preserves the birthplace and childhood home of George Washington Carver, scientist, educator, and humanitarian.